NBPTS Exceptional Needs Specialist Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Guide to Master Your Certification!

In Freud's phallic stage, which occurs roughly between the ages of three and six years, children begin to explore their sense of identity in relation to their gender. This developmental phase is crucial as it involves the emergence of gender identity, where children recognize themselves as either male or female and begin to understand the societal expectations associated with their gender.

During this stage, children often identify with the same-sex parent, internalizing behaviors and roles that are deemed appropriate for their gender. This identification process contributes significantly to the establishment of their gender identity and plays a critical role in their overall personality development. The phallic stage highlights the importance of such identification in shaping how children view themselves in relation to others, laying the groundwork for future social interactions and their understanding of gender roles.

The other choices, while important aspects of childhood development, do not specifically pertain to the key focus of the phallic stage, which centers around the development of gender identity and its implications for the child's evolving sense of self.